Improvement in concussion-fuses for explosive shells



G. P.GANSTER. OONOUSSION FUSE FOB EXPLOSIVE SHELLS. No. 48,167.

I Inventor Patented June 13, 1865.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE P. GANSTER, OF N YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO WM. FOSTER, JP, OF SAME PLACE.

.lMPR OVEMENT CONCUSSlON-FUSES FOR EXPLOSIVE SHELLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,1 67, dated June 13, 1865; antedated June 9', 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. GANSTER, of New York city, in the county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Concussion-Fuse; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters representinglike parts in the several fig ures.

The nature of my invention consists in so constructing a concussion-fuse that. it shall be safe during carriage or transportation, safe against explosion by any accidental fall, and can even be thrown, with its shell, without exploding it, unlessa stop be released before it leaves the hand; but this being done, upon vstriking it explodes with destructive effect.

In the drawings, A represents an axial secnon of a hand-grenade having one of my fuses. D is the screw-plug, closing a hole through which the charge is introduced after the fuse has been fixed through the fuse-hole.

B B is what I call my fuse or exploding device, (shown partly in section,) and consisting of several parts, two halves having conical recesses or seats for two cones, O and D. The lower half, or B, enters a hole,'(in the bottom of the grenade, at H, opposite the fusehole,) which serves to steady it. The other or upper half, B, screws (in at the fuse-hole) down onto the top of the other.

On the base of cone 0, I insert several fric' tion-match heads, m, covered with fulminate composition. The lower cone, D, I call the anvil or plunger. The two are kept apart by a. spiral spring, S, inserted in a cavity in D, and. extending above it.- This is strong enough to prevent contact between D and the match-heads from any fall-say adistance of six feet; but there is another stop,E,operated by a wire, h, passing up through B, then bent down at right angles, as at h. The thumb, pressing against this handle h, can give the wire h and stop E a motion of rotation some ninety degrees, as shown in Figure 3. In Fig. 1 the stop E is on. In Figs. 3 and 4, E shows it off. This E is a safety-stop, to be'rotated so as to interpose between the two cones and keep them apart until-the grenade is about being thrown. Byla pressure of the thumb on handle h stop E is thrown out from between the two cones, as at E, just previous to throwing. Spring S is sufficient to prevent contact until the grenade strikes. When the grenade strikes after being thrown, no matter in what On the head of plug B there are two slots,

or recesses, t, for the wire handle h to spring into, so as not to be two easily displaced. When. the stop E is in its normal position I use an additional locking-bolt, Z, for it, which will be seen inserted in the head of B. Until this bolt 1 is pressed down by the thumb handle It cannot be pushed aside; but both can be done at once by the thumb when the grenade is in the hand. This bolt 1 serves as an additional safetyguard against accident, as it more certainly keeps the stop E between the cones during transportation or handling. In

the base of cone 0 several small holes are Y drilled, of such a size that the match-heads m, which are about a quarter of an inch long, can be firmly pressed, the fulminate composition being below the base.

To prevent the powder of the charge getting in between the cones, which might prevent the ignition of the matches, the opening alongside of the stop E can be closed in any suitable way, but so 'as to be blown open when the matches are exploded; To assist in this I generally have a-little powder sized onface of anvil D.

-My drawings are intended 'to represent a two-pound hand-grenade.

The operationis as follows: After taking the grenade into the hand, the thumb of right hand presses down locking-bolt Z, and, at the same time pushes aside wire handle It, thus releasing stop E, throwing it out from between the cones, as at E. The spring S is snfficicnt to prevent contact between anvil-cone D and match-heads m during handling or throwing;

(Shown by the --but.after it strikes, when threwe f r0n1.the i112 double-coned cha m ber, substantially as hand,fies seen at Fig. 4, the'ignitien of the shown and described.

matches fires the charge through the hole in whichstop E rotates. GEORGE GANSTERY What'IeIaim as new, and desire to secure Witnesses:

by Letters Patent, is' JOHN'S. HOLLINGSHEAD,

Theme of' two cones, G and D, opelatin'g. I JOHN D. BLOOR. 

